Notebook: No. 1 defense stingy, No. 1 offense sloppy in Saturday scrimmage

By Ryan Greene

Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 | 2 a.m.

As fall camp concluded on Saturday night for the UNLV football team, Mike Sanford was yet again able to praise his ever-improving defense.

In a situational scrimmage at Sam Boyd Stadium, the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense never were on the field at the same time, but the top defensive unit left with much more to brag about, keeping the No. 2 offense from gaining a first down all night.

Meanwhile ...

"I thought the No. 1 offense tonight was sloppy," he said. "We had too many penalties. I'm glad we had it refereed very stringent. We told the officials to call everything, and I think that was good for us. We've got to eliminate those things and function better.

"Do we have a chance to be a really good football team? Yes. Are we ready to play tonight? No."

Luckily for the Rebels, they still have two weeks to iron things out before the Sept. 5 opener against Sacramento State.

Junior quarterback Omar Clayton went 7-of-12 for 109 yards with a touchdown and an interception, hitting senior wideout Ryan Wolfe three times for 33 yards and that lone score.

But the defense had plenty more in terms of individual accomplishments to brag about.

The Rebels' new defensive end duo — senior Jason Beauchamp and junior Malo Taumua — combined for six tackles and two sacks. From the secondary, junior corner Quinton Pointer had a sack and and interception, while juco transfer Mike Grant's stellar fall continued with a pick of his own.

"I feel like we have a lot to improve on, still," Grant said. "We do have a great offense, so we base ourselves off of them. We want to score more points than them. It may sound tough, but all-in-all, that's what we want to do."

Still, between the bevy of yellow flags that went flying, the run plays that got blown up and the designed passes that broke down, this was far from a legitimate reason for the Rebels to hit the panic button.

They consider it just finding out which wrinkles are there that need ironing.

"I don't think there's too much concern, but we have to be aware that if we don't come out focused, that's what can happen to us," Clayton said. "We can be a good offense, and I believe that to the core, but if we don't come out and focus or aren't ready to perform, we can end up looking like a bad team, and that's what happened tonight."

Tailback race beginning to shake out

Sophomore C.J. Cox — the Rebels' top returning rusher from last season — did not participate in Saturday's scrimmage, as the hamstring injury he suffered on the first day of fall camp was re-aggravated on Wednesday for the second time.

And yet again, junior Channing Trotter continued to push towards the top spot on the depth chart in his absence.

Displaying some more hard running, he picked up 17 yards on five carries, plus a score on a one-yard plunge early.

It's looking more and more like senior Chris Brogdon (two carries for three yards) will be the primary backup when Sept. 5 rolls around, depending on Cox's health, while freshmen Bradley Randle and Imari Thompson are next in line.

Watson continues to shine

In his continuing quest to prove to Sanford and the staff that he can handle the duties of being the team's primary kicker, senior Kyle Watson certainly didn't hurt his case on Saturday.

He connected on all seven of his field goal tries late in the scrimmage, including a 48-yarder.

Meanwhile, junior Ben Jaekle put on pads for the first time since his June back surgery. He attempted a couple of kickoffs, which was one of his responsibilities in 2008 along with field goal attempts from 40 yards out and further.

Fourth down foible

One of the funnier moments of the evening came during a two-minute drill which put the No. 1 offense against the No. 2 defense.

The situation had Clayton & Co. driving from their own 40-yard line with no timeouts, needing a timeout to win. Facing a third-and-10 from the opponent's 34, Clayton hit Wolfe over the middle, who was blown dead near the first-down marker, as the drill included two-hand-touch rules rather than live tackling.

A first down call was made on the field by one ref, but when another spotted the ball a little ways back from the original mark, the yard sticks showed fourth down. Clayton then spiked the ball to stop the clock, thinking that a first down was called by both refs.

Again for the Rebels, it was a good thing that this wasn't the real thing.

"It was two-hand-touch, so really in reality, Ryan Wolfe probably makes that first down," Sanford said. "That's a great learning situation for us."

Two injury updates

Senior receiver Rodelin Anthony and freshman center Doug Zismann — both of whom were shelved late in the trip to Ely with concussions — should both be back on Tuesday.

Other numbers ...

Sophomore quarterback Mike Clausen — manning the No. 2 offense was 4-of-7 for 19 yards and a touchdown ... sophomore receiver Phillip Payne had one catch for 29 yards, while fellow sophomore Michael Johnson had one grab for 27 yards and senior Jerriman Robinson had a 13-yard catch ... For the No. 2 defense, senior end Heivaha Mafi had a sack, while fellow senior end Preston Brooks had a tackle for loss.

What's on tap

The Rebels are off until Tuesday afternoon, when they begin their regular season practice schedule. That is also when the coaching staff will begin installing game plans for the Sept. 5 opener. The team is off on Monday for the start of fall classes.